I am an American living with Multiple Sclerosis.  I am not a victim.  I am a first-generation American born to two Nigerian Igbo parents and the third of seven siblings.  I was born in Pittsburgh, PA but raised in Augusta, GA.  I moved to Atlanta for high school, attended Georgia Southwestern University in Americus, GA where I received my B.S. and M.B.A., moved back to Augusta to work in Human Resources in the manufacturing industry as a Safety Coordinator, and I currently work as a Human Resources Specialist in the public sector.

Working in the public sector can be challenging.  It’s very bureaucratic and things are hard to change and often slow when they do.  You see a need and you see opportunities for change and you have solutions and options, but people get stuck in their ways because ‘things have always been done this way.’  Yet and still, you work through the challenges.  Challenges are a part of the journey.  Sometimes, just being a catalyst for change and showing the Return-On-Investment from a proposed change helps.  Keep working through the challenges and everyday you’ll see that the environment becomes more flexible, little by little.  You’ll find that the world won’t come to an end with change.

I was first introduced to NAAAHR by a colleague at work.  She invited me to a meeting after my first day at work.  I remember feeling so empowered after attending the first meeting that I kept coming back.  NAAAHR helps me stay current on issues and trends in the field.  When the week is rough at work, NAAAHR puts the wind back in my sails.  The networking is great. The topics are great.  I enjoy the candid look into the speaker’s experiences at the Chapter Meetings; the challenges in their path and how they overcame them.  It gives me an edge to know some of the traps and pitfalls on the road to where I’m headed in the field without having to go through them firsthand.  There have been studies on African-American women not helping each other at work as much as others but I feel like I am amongst friends here.  The meetings unite people.  You feel like you’re with friends and family.  You don’t feel like you have to have your guard up.  No matter what race, no matter what gender, it feels like a place where we are all united and uplift each other in the field.  Also, it’s a smaller pond at these events so everyone has the same access when it comes to networking and getting information.

As I stated earlier, I am an American with Multiple Sclerosis, but I don’t identify myself as someone with a disability.  There are people who can’t walk and children who can’t see.  It can always be worse.  I keep it in perspective.  You can have a victim or a champion mentality.  I live every day with zeal and vigor as if it were my last day using my arms and legs.  I may have the diagnosis but I still have the rest of my life in front of me.  Be a leader.  Be confident.  Always approach everything with humility, kindness, love, and grace.  Every challenge creates a lesson.  As long as you learn from that and always have that goal and vision in sight then you have no other option but to be successful.